timwalker
newbie
Reged: 23/06/2008
Posts: 24
Loc: Norwich
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Hello
We at work are all going to the dogs in Great Yarmouth tonight - first time for most of us.
Any tips in shooting the racing apart from the obvious? i am most concerned about the light - I have no idea what it will be like. I have Oly E-510 to play with....
Thanks, Tim
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bench_ubbster
Bench Meister
Reged: 08/08/2006
Posts: 2591
Loc: Cambridgeshire, UK
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I take it this will be at night or evening? White balance can be difficult under the tricky lighting, so shoot in RAW and you can always tweak the WB later.
If you want to freeze the action, fast shutter speeds are required and the only way to achieve this is up the ISO to at least 1600 (even with expensive (fast) lenses you'll need a high ISO).
If you are tracking a dog (wanting a blurred background) use a shutter speed of about 1/30s and you might have to switch off image stabilisation (if you have this) or set it for vertical IS only. Another trick is to pre-focus on a point on the track in manual focus and take a picture when the dog(s) are in that focus point. Some AF lenses can struggle in low light (contrast) conditions.
I went to a night meeting in Peterborough and didn't get a decent shot all night, it was very difficult.
Also, don't forget, do not use flash and some of the best shots are of the people's reactions in the crowds and the tick-tacs.
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Master of the Bench and Global Ambassador of the Brotherhood of the Bench
Bench or No Bench
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Norman
Reged: 23/09/2004
Posts: 1566
Loc: West London, UK
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I've always found a 12 bore does the job.
Seriously - You will have to 'suck it and see'. You will almost certainly have to up the ISO a great deal. You will need a shutter speed of at least 1/250 or 1/500 unless you don't need the dog's legs 'frozen'. I've never shot at a dog-track but would imagine a long lens would be a boon too, otherwise a lot of cropping is likely to be required.
Let us know how you get on and let's see some results. Good luck.
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Regards,
Norman
www.photobox.org.uk
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the start of a new argument.
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OneTen
'Two Breakfasts'
Reged: 23/06/2003
Posts: 2446
Loc: Devon
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I've tried photographing dogs at Blackpool's old flapping track, now a cinema. The lighting was very poor and even Tmax 3200 pushed a stop wasn't giving exposures good enough to freeze action. The best results were ones taken head on as the traps opened or panning shots on the back straight.
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Richard .......... My Website - My Blog - My Flickr
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El Sid
Going potty
Reged: 14/04/2003
Posts: 9285
Loc: Sussex-by-the-Sea
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I did some at the Portsmouth track about this time last year. Early in the evening I was able to get away with ISO400 as it was still reasonably light. As the evening progressed ISO had to rise until I was up at 1600. I still found it necessary to use as much support as avaialble as shutter speeds came down. Generally trying to AF track moving dogs didn't work - just not enough light to allow the AF to react. Best track shots were take at the traps, corners and the finish line by pre-focussing on a point and using the motor drive as the dogs came through.
Don't ignore the possibilites of candid and scene setting shots either.
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Nigel
Completely BSRIPN 
ElSid Gallery
A camera in the hand is better than one in the cupboard........
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timwalker
newbie
Reged: 23/06/2008
Posts: 24
Loc: Norwich
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Thank you all for your advice.
I started off ok, but only before the dogs started running - it was light enough. But when the dogs started it was very difficult to get anything decent, they just move so fast.
Also, once the first race was run I got so excited that I'm afraid the camera went back in its bag!
On the plus side, I came out £10 up thanks to a £49 win on the last race :-)
Thank you all - I need practice at high speeds I think!
Tim
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